


True Feeling

by GilJuniorC



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: M/M, Zalex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GilJuniorC/pseuds/GilJuniorC
Summary: After graduating from high school, Charlie goes on vacation to San Francisco, but Alex decides to stay at Evergreen for the summer in order to spend more time with his friends and enjoy the last summer before entering college. Zach had been having a strange behaviour for a while, but  Alex will understand the reason for it and his friend will need to begin overcoming all those fears that  had settled in him.
Relationships: Zach Dempsey & Alex Standall, Zach Dempsey/Alex Standall
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	1. Knees

⠀𝗧͟𝗿͟𝘂͟𝗲͟ ͟𝗙͟𝗲͟𝗲͟𝗹͟𝗶͟𝗻͟𝗴͟  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝗞𝗻𝗲𝗲𝘀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏' 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆

It has been two weeks since the last time he had seen Zach Dempsey. Why, are you asking? Well, Alex had received more than one excuse for that.

"I have a meeting about being a coach, you know"

"Man, I'm sorry but I'm dating a girl tonight, wish me luck ;) see you in a couple of days"

"I feel a bit sick, stay with Charlie, I will see you soon, brother"

Alex, after that last whatsapp, was tired of insisting. He parked the car in the first spot he saw and took his cell phone out of the speakerphone to answer. He decided directly that he was going to listen to him and send a message to Charlie, since he had not seen him for several days; but as much as he tried to fool himself, he missed Zach. It was completely normal, wasn't it? He was his best friend after all. He snorted, starting to write her an answer.

"Okay, Zach. When you think you have a few free minutes of your valuable time, let me know."

He wasn't going to try not to sound annoyed, he was tired of everything. After sending a message to his boyfriend, he put the cell phone in his pants' pocket, convincing himself not to take it out until he gets home. He didn't want to know if his supposed best friend answered him.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑼𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆

—Weren't you going to meet Zach today, Lex?—Charlie asked, licking the lemon ice cream he had just bought, passing another one to the shorter boy, who was sitting on one of the park benches. It was a stracciatela ice cream, Charlie had bought it for him.

The young man from the Standall's family rolled his eyes, leaving them blank for a moment and letting out a loud sigh, quite annoyed, thinking about what had happened.

—He seems to be too busy for me again. He advised at the last minute, you know. Now he's sick, maybe he has a hangover or something, I don't know and I actually don't want to, either—he replied, unable to avoid sounding sarcastic.

Charlie sighed softly, sitting down next to his boyfriend and placing his left hand on Alex's closest leg. He looked at him with concern, realizing he was quite upset.

—Why don't you go to his house, show up without telling him before, and ask him directly what's going on? But don't worry too much, he didn't reply to my messages last night either. I asked him how his last team meeting for next year had been, and he hasn't even read the message.

—As well as I know him, he has probably turned off his cell phone's notifications and decided not to read the messages—Alex replied, beginning to lick the ice cream that the boy on his side had bought for him—. How expensive has the ice cream been? So I can pay you, ”he asked, reaching into his jacket pocket, looking for a couple of dollars—.

—Do not even think about it! I invite this time—Charlie exclaimed, looking at the shorter one with a big smile on his face.

—Really? Again? —Alex complained, dropping his head back, but smiling back—.

Charlie laughed out loud, grabbing Alex's free hand and removing it from his pocket in order not to let him pay the ice cream money to him.

—It's not a big deal, Lex, it's just a couple of dollars. Also... I won't be able to invite you during the rest of the summer since next Friday.

—Oh shit, I forgot for a moment you were going to San Francisco this Friday ." He bit his lower lip, looking at his boyfriend with sadness in his eyes—.

—How little do you love me to forget that —Charlie complained, pretending to be offended before releasing a small laugh and leaving a kiss on the other's cheek—. I'll be back before you go to college, you know that. It's just that my father wanted to strengthen ties with me or something like that. I... I mean, we wanted you to come with us, but...

—Yeah, I know... But you know, I actually want to spend the summer here and say goodbye to everyone. But hey, we'll see each other soon and take advantage of the rest of the time. Plus, I'm going to see you every weekend, okay? —Alex replied, gripping his partner's hand tightly and looking at him with a huge smile, trying to comfort him.

He perfectly knew well that Charlie really wanted to go with him on vacation, and Alex had no doubt they would have had a great time, but he just didn't feel like it. He had made plans with Clay, with Jess, with Tyler, with ...  
Well, yes, he also had made plans a few weeks ago with Zach, but right now the brunette was not so sure that they were going to be able to even go for a walk soon together.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅

After spending all the afternoon with his boyfriend, Alex came back home, took a shower and put his pajamas on, ready to watch a movie or some new series on Netflix. He had practically decided to choose a horror one when his mobile screen lit up. There was a new notification of a WhatsApp message in the middle of it. When he saw the name of the person who had sent it, he felt his heart almost jumping out of his chest.

"If you are not already dressed, do it. I'm outside, inside my car. I'm waiting for you"

Alex sighed, closing his eyes. He didn't know if he should reply to that message. His heart was pounding in hisr chest, and he didn't like that feeling at all. He didn't even bother answering, just got out of bed closing his laptop and changed his clothes. He wore nothing out of the ordinary, a plain black T-shirt, a gray jacket, dark gray jeans, and the shoes he used to wear on an usual day. He put the cell phone in his jacket pocket, grabbed his house keys and in less than three minutes he was already on the other side of the already closed door of his house, looking for the car that should be parked nearby.

And there he was, the boy who had sent him the message, leaning against the car that a couple of months before he had to fix -almost completely-, looking at the screen of his mobile phone. It seemed like he was waiting for an answer from the boy to whom he had written a few minutes ago. Alex was sure the boy hadn't seen him yet.

Alex stared at him for a couple of seconds from the stairs of his front door. He hated what that boy was doing to him. Or… well, he hated how much he liked being carried away by the taller one. Because that was the worst thing of it all, Alex would not hesitate for a moment to anything Zach wanted him to do, no matter how much he walked away from him, no matter how many things he did or even if he was acting like an idiot. Alex would always be there for him and, although the brunette sometimes felt like he wouldn't, part of him knew that Zach would also do everything in his power to help him. Whatever it was, he had said.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰𝒇 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰'𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰'𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆

—Alex! —His friend's voice brought Alex back to reality. He gently shook his head, closing his eyes for a second before greeting him with a nod. Zach was looking at him with a smile that the brunette knew more than well—. Are you ready to go partying?

—Really, Zach? Do I have to tell you for the fifteenth time that I am not as social as you are and that I don't fit at one of those parties? —Replied the boy, slowly getting closer to where his friend was standing—.

—You know what? Sometimes I think you consider me, perhaps, a little more predictable than I am —Zach replied, raising his eyebrows and looking with a mischievous smile at the youngest man of the Standall family.

—Well... in my defense I will say that you were the one who told me we were going to a party —Alex defended himself, his hands inside his jacket's pocket, a little confused by his friend's response—.

—And that's true. We're going to a party, but... Us, alone. I owe you one. I know I was stupid the last time we went out and... you hadn't a good time that night. I really want to spend more time with you. I want to have more Zach and Alex moments, but this time, good ones, okay? —His tone of voice was serious. He even seemed like he was, indeed, sorry. His smile had disappeared from his face. He swallowed, apparently nervous waiting for his friend's answer—.

Alex parted his lips, as wanting to speak, but didn't know which words he should use. He had been annoyed with Zach the whole afternoon, and now all of that anger had suddenly vanished. He sighed, closing his mouth and drawing a small smile on his lips, still looking into his eyes. He nodded, and as soon as he did, Zach Dempsey's mischievous smile appeared on the scene -again-. That did nothing but made Alex smile as well, who couldn't hide a silly grin, rolling his eyes to look away from the tall boy. How the hell did that boy have that effect on the shortest? How could he be so easily convinced by Zach? He always did whatever he wanted to do... and, to be honest, Alex didn't dislike that.

—It's okay. But only for awhile, right? I don't want you to get too excited, a drink or two and we're off —he warned, opening the car's door and sitting in the passenger seat without daring to look into Zach's eyes again until he sat in the pilot's seat—.

—We will see, Standall. I'll make you have such a great time you won't want to go to bed until sunrise.

Alex couldn't see the expression on Zach's face, he didn't dare, for any reason, to look at that smile again. He simply looked out the window, watching as the car started moving toward the city center.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑾𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒈𝒐 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑶𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔

The disco, at that time of the night, was completely full. Zach had started to dance at the same time he took the first step inside that place, Alex just rolled his eyes once more and laughed when he saw his friend having such a great time.

—So... sick, right? You've improved quite fast, Dempsey —he said, raising his voice as much as he could to try to be heard over the sound of the music—.

—I had a headache, but now I'm totally available for you, right? You have my precious time entirely at your disposal, Alex —the taller one replied with a funny smile, raising his eyebrows and lowering them several times. Alex could tell that he was flirting as he did from time to time, although he was absolutely sure he was joking—. Come on, come on, let's dance, don't just stand there. Or do you want a drink first?

—I think I'm down for the drink, yeah—the boy accepted—.

Zach waved his hand at the shorter man to follow him, what he did. Both boys approached the bar and the taller one asked, without even asking the shorter one what he wanted, for two cups of vodka and lemon soda. After all, he knew perfectly the tastes of the brunette. He gave him a playful smile and, as soon as the waiter handed them the drinks, it was he who gave it to him personally. Alex gave him a long gulp, it had been a long time since he drank anything with alcohol and part of him, oddly enough, missed it.

—Hey, hey, drink carefully, you crazy —the brunette warned him, patting him on the shoulder—.

—And you are the one telling me? —He asked, letting a small laugh out , after making a couple of gestures with his face due to the burning of that alcohol in his throat.

—I am the expert here, Standall. Come on, let's dance, I want to see what you've learned since my last and only dance class —Zach held out his hand, which Alex, with a funny smile, accepted—.

Both boys walked towards the dance floor, holding their respective glasses of alcohol with one hand. When they arrived to the center of it, both began to dance, having fun. They jumped, they laughed, they had fun. They both approached each other, singing close to the opposite face before separating again and continuing to dance like crazy; and then they started again. It had been too long since they had such a good time together, that they really felt so close to each other.

And that was something Alex really enjoyed and needed.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑰𝒇 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰'𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰'𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆

The night ended without any incident, simply with both boys laughing out loud out of the nightclub. Zach's left arm wrapped the boy's shoulders, securely attached to him. Alex laughed at how his friend seemed to be on the verge of falling over from time to time and Zach defended himself saying that it was Alex who was almost falling to the ground all the time. They walked to Zach's car, standing together in front of the passenger's door. The brunette opened his lips for a moment, looking at the door of the vehicle and then directing his gaze into the other guy's eyes. A bad memory had crossed his mind and he had realized what they were about to do. 

—Hey, we shouldn't be driving like this. I think it is better that we walk instead and maybe we come to pick it up tomorrow, don't you think?

—You know there is no problem, Lex. It's not the first time I drive like this —Zach complained, staring back at him with a slight frown—.

—We've had a drink, well, not only one. I think you have taken at least five —replied the shorter one, raising his eyebrows defending his posture—.

—I've gotten to drink quite a few more, believe me —he commented, remembering that a few weeks ago he had come to drink, perhaps, eight glasses throughout the night at a complete stranger's party in which he remembered sneaking in with a friend of the soccer team—.

—That is indifferent. Let's walk —Alex protested, now he was the one who frowned, pulling the boy by his shirt in the opposite direction to the car—.

—Nooo! It's going to take us at least half an hour if we walk, Standall —Zach rolled his eyes, making his voice sound a little high, pretending to behave like a little boy. He was trying to grapple with the brunette but not really forcing himself to, just trying to move as little as possible, taking just a couple of steps in the direction Alex was trying to go—.

Alex let a loud laugh out, still pulling on that boy. But then, between push and pull, one of Alex's legs failed. He could blame the alcohol, or maybe it was that time to time his left leg was still missing balance, the point was that the shorter one stumbled and almost hit his face on the ground. Luckily, and despite Zach was much more drunk, he squeezed the boy's body tightly and wrapped him in his arms in an act reflex . He was thankful that one of his hands was already holding one of his shoulders, because he was able to react quickly this way.

Alex didn't move, didn't have the courage to turn around and look his friend in the eye. He swallowed, staring at the ground. It would have been a probably very silly hit and perhaps, at most, it would have taken one or two bruises and some scraping, nothing more. The problem was that part of him was hurting anyways.

"Remember that night on the rooftop, when I kissed you? I'll never forget the feeling of your arms grabbing me, keeping me safe"

He got nervous about that memory, knowing that thinking about it could not bring anything good. He knew it would feel like the wrong thing to do, but he just stood there, letting the other boy wrap his arms around him for a couple more seconds, until he allowed him to loosen his grip.

—Alex... are you okay?

The young man's voice, which seemed concerned, brought him out of his thoughts. Alex nodded, reaching into his pockets and starting to walk home. He turned his head back to see his friend, without stopping walking.

—Are you coming? Our homes are in the same direction, so… —The boy's voice was kind of more serious than a couple of minutes ago, but Zach smiled at him and nodded in a quick movement—.

—Let's go. I don't want you to get kidnapped or to fall down the road. You better take a bodyguard and I could be one —he joked—.


	2. Follow you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole group decides by WhatsApp to make Charlie a farewell dinner since they will not see each other for the rest of the summer. And well, by the way, go partying.  
> The problem is Zach ends up getting into a little trouble...
> 
> I recommend listening to "Follow you" by Bring me the Horizon while reading.
> 
> AND PLEASE GUYS, if you want 13rw to have a spin-off, check out this web site and learn what you can do to help us getting it. You can always start tweeting using the #13rwspinoff hashtag on twitter, instagram, facebook or whatever social media you use daily.
> 
> Sorry again if my english is not as good as it should.
> 
> All the information here https://13rwzalexspinoff.carrd.co/  
> https://help.netflix.com/es-es/titlerequest ask Netflix for the spin off here.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝟐: 𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖

Zach left Alex at home saying goodbye to him with a smile and a wave of his hand. The boy had been behaving, perhaps, a little weird at the beginning of the walk, but luckily Zach had started talking, telling him everything that was going through his mind at the moment, and in the end he had managed to get more than one laugh from Alex. It wasn't very common for Alex to laugh like that when he was sober, so the brunette always took advantage of every opportunity he had. Zach stared at his young friend until he saw him disappear behind his front door. He sighed deeply, keeping his gaze on the entrance to the Standalls' home for a couple of seconds. He shook his head, forcing himself to return to the real world. He glanced quickly at the watch he was wearing on his left wrist and started walking again towards his own house, unable to get the same thing he had been thinking about all night out of his head.  
After another fifteen minutes of walking, the boy arrived home. He was careful not to make a single noise in order not to wake his little sister or his mother, although, for a while now, she had hardly even looked at him, much less spoken a word. Why, are you asking? Well, it all It all goes back to a short time after what had happened with Bryce Walker.

Zach threw himself on the bed after taking out his clothes, staying in his underwear and then simply covering himself with a blanket. It was hot, so it didn't matter. His mind thinking about everything that happened about two months ago. He could remember that loud discussion as if it was happening right now, and that was not something he remembered happily.

Everything happened during a Sunday's night. 

"You need to work harder, Zachary. I know what happened to Bryce affected you, but you can't let that affect your own future".

"Mom, what don't you understand? I'm not going to get the sports scholarship, I'm not going to be able to go to Princeton, or to Brown.” Zach tried to breathe deeply to calm himself, he didn't want to have that discussion, not right now. He had just returned from Alex's house, and what he had seen there had just destroyed him inside. He didn't feel like putting up with that too. He walked in the direction his room was, but as soon as he put his hand on the door handle, he heard what his mother had yet to say.

“You can study, put more effort into it and get the necessary grade to attend a good college. You must go, you can restart your life, forget about everything you've been through, and of course, about everyone. ”

Forget about everything? Was that what he wanted? Forget about Justin, about Alex ... No, obviously not. The boy turned back, looking at his mother in a way the boy would swear he would never forget. A mixture of contempt, sadness, disappointment and fear had made the little sparkle that remained in his eyes disappear.

"I do not want to go to college. I don't want to restart my life, much less I want to get away from my friends. ”He spat those words while his eyes began to be filled with tears.

"Justin? That boy who is now going to have to go to rehab? Or is it because of that boy, Alex, the one who shot himself in the head and has taken so much time from you? Time you could have spent in your own future instead of trying to find one for him? ”  
That was what made the only boy left in that family exploded. Zach clenched both of his fists tightly and punched the wall hard, getting a hole in it.

“If you don't know what it is to have friends, if you don't know what it is to want to protect them at all costs and to want to have them around, it's not my problem. I would rather die myself than let something happen to any of them."

Zach knew that Justin was one of his best friends, and that he would do many things for him; at least now, after how badly she had behaved towards him when he needed him most. He needed to be the friend he never was with him.  
But Alex' stuff had touched him deeper. His mother was talking about the person who had actually killed for him, not metaphorically. He was talking about the person who was always there for him, although many of the times, when none felt the strength to speak, they only stayed at Alex's playing video games in silence; a comfortable silence. She dared to say it had been a mistake to have helped him all those months; but Zach, with the simple fact of being able to see that boy walking without hardly stumbling, seeing him being able to smile as he had not seen him do for years... he was already happy with that, it was enough reward for him.

No, he definitely wasn't going to stand his mother mentioning his name or referring to him that way. He opened the door of his room, entered and closed it behind him. He didn't leave until the next morning to go to school.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆

When he opened his eyes it was already seven in the morning. He got up, took a shower, and got dressed, ready to go for a run.

—Aren't you going to have breakfast? —Her sister's voice made him turn back as he was about to open the front door to leave. —Every time when I get up you are already gone.

The youngest Dempsey's voice sounded slightly sad, enough - and perhaps too much - for Zach to give a negative answer to that question.

—Are there any cookies left? —He asked, raising up his arms in defeat—.

The smile of the little one of the family was, for a moment, something that brought him back to the past. It was as if all that hadn't happened, as if that was a normal Saturday since maybe… well, too much for Zach to remember. It was difficult to think about the last family meal he had enjoyed. Perhaps since the last breakfast they had shared with her father. The ex-football player sat at the table in the center of the room and, while May made a hot chocolate and put some slices of bread in the toaster, he put a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth. When the youngest was finished, she sat next to her brother and they chatted for a few minutes; a few minutes that Zach had really needed for a few weeks now. It was a non important conversation, but one of the warmest that he had had in a long time in that house.  
But like everything good in Zach's life, it had to have an end, and that end came the same time his mother walked through the kitchen door. He greeted the younger one with a kiss on the cheek and a "good morning." Not even a glance for the –now- only man in the family. Zach got up from the table under the sad and attentive gaze of his sister. He didn't want to make her suffer, but he wasn't even ready to share a glance with that woman whom he could hardly consider his mother anymore. In less than a minute he was already on the other side of the front door with the backpack he used to exercise hanging on his right hand. He took a deep breath and, changing his plans once more, took out a bottle he kept in it's front pocket, taking a long drink to that burning liquid which was now going down his throat.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝑰'𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆

𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐿𝐼𝐸'𝑆 𝐺𝑂𝑂𝐷𝐵𝑌𝐸 𝐴𝑇 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐷𝐼𝑆𝐶𝑂

Charlie: 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑒'𝑠!!!  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Clay: 𝐴𝑡 𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑒'𝑠? 𝐼 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜... 𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Clay changed the name of the group to “CHARLIE'S GOODBYE AT LUKE’S”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Jess: 𝑆𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠!  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Charlie: 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝘩𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒𝑠 ;)  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Alex: 𝐼 𝘩𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒 "𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙" 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝘓𝘖𝘓

Zach thought several times whether to go or not. Part of him adored Charlie, he was a friend to him, and soon, he could also be considered his student.

But, also, part of him didn't want to see him. He had been trying to ignore what a little voice in his brain repeated to him every time he saw that guy next to Alex. Sometimes he found himself silently complaining about the little amount of time he could spend with his best friend alone, as they used to. Because that was what he was missing, right? Staying as friends, just seeing each other and playing video games or going for a ride in his car... Nothing else, of course not.

But who was he going to fool. Alex was happy, and he himself was the only one to walk away from the shorter one, ignoring his messages. That is why he had decided to meet him the night before, and that is why he was going to show up that Saturday. He had to say goodbye to Charlie, yes, that was it.

Zach: 𝐼 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜. 𝑂𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜𝘩𝑜𝑙. 

Alex is typing...

...

What was taking him so much time? Shit.

...

Alex: 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑝. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤...  
Alex: 𝑃𝘩𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑝.

Fuck, Alex.  
Zach let go a small laugh out, visibly nervous. Well, that idea didn't sound bad. Like... at all. But since Charlie was also going to be there, maybe it wasn't a very good idea to make one of his jokes, right? Well, Charlie wasn't exactly a jealous person, but ...

Zach: 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝, 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑙?

Alex: 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒... 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒'𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝘩𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑃𝑇.

We have achieved. For some reason that subject made Zach fucking happy. For a moment, he remembered what his mother had said to him long ago, but instead of getting angry, he was relieved. Why? Well, easy, that "we" had made it clear to him.

Zach: 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡? 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Charlie: 𝑆𝑜𝑜𝑜, 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠!! 𝐷𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝟩, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Alex: ;)

That afternoon, Zach spent his time buying a couple of bottles of vodka and some serpentines to use in the party and then chatting on their WhatsApp group. Nothing important, just sending memes and laughing with his friends, all except Alex. He hadn't said anything else since that last emoji. When it was time for everyone to meet for dinner, Zach was already parking in the closest parking lot to the Burger King they were going to have dinner at. He got out of it with the plastic bag held in one hand and closed the car with the remote control; then he started looking for any familiar face. There he saw Jessica, Annie, Clay, Tyler, Estela, Charlie and Alex leaning against one of the walls of the local, next to the door, waiting for him with several bags and a pair of small backpacks resting on the floor. They seemed to be having a good time in a conversation, probably funny as Zach could hear them laughing. Jess was the first to see him.

—Zach! —She greeted him, waving her hand and giving him a small smile—.

The rest of them turned to see their friend, also smiling at him. Zach started walking towards them, carrying those bottles in the bag.

—Heyyyy guys, did you miss me? —He asked, looking directly at Clay since he hadn't heard from him in weeks. Then, his gaze went through all his friends until stopping in Alex, who was looking at him with a small curve at the edge of his lips—.

—I thought you had been swallowed by the earth for a moment, when you said you would be coming for dinner, I didn't believe it at first—he replied, shrugging his shoulders, then he let a small laugh out—.

—Well, I resurrected, right? And tonight is going to be the best night of the whole summer, without a doubt —The brunette put the plastic bag on the ground, took one of the vodka bottles out and lifted it in the air, trying to make his face look serious, but kind of failing—.

His friends started laughing. How long had it been since the last time they had both been so happy? Zach wasn't really sure they ever had been, there was always something to worry about, but right now all they had to do was to make sure they had the best summer of their lives, right? Technically.  
The only one missing there was Tony since he would be spending the summer at college, and… obviously Justin; although he was not going to mention him and ruin everything.

—Come on, guys, let's go inside before the tables are full —Charlie commented, gesturing for his friends to follow him into the burguer—

Alex stood up, since until that moment he had been fully leaning against the wall and started walking towards the entrance, where Zach was still, now keeping the bottle he had taken out inside the plastic bag. As he passed him, he placed his hand on his shoulder and stood still for a moment to speak, before continuing on his way inside.

—You were lucky to come and not personally make me come after you, Zach —he joked, keeping that small smile on his lips—.

Zach smiled widely, closing his eyes for a moment. Then Alex separated his hand and walked inside, followed by the tallest.

—You really wanted to see me, Lex, I couldn't do this to you, plus I was already feeling better after last night's hangover —he explained, in a funny voice. The brown-haired guy simply let an almost inaudible laugh out—.

—The back table, guys, it has more free chairs! —Tyler said, leading his girlfriend by the hand—.

Charlie, listening to his friend, sat in the first chair he saw, leaving room to the rest of the young people so they could be easily accommodated. Alex chose the seat next to his boyfriend, and Jessica sat on the other side of him. Zach ended up sitting right in front of his best friend, so not bad.

Dinner passed without any incident. Everyone laughed, told experiences about the last two weeks Zach had decided to disappear, talked about music and movies they had recently seen ...  
Anything but talking about future, because it was something that made most of them nervous. Clay had specifically asked everyone not to ask him about Brown, and Annie had done the same, so it the best for everyone was to simply avoid the college topic.

As soon as they finished eating, they agreed on how they would go home. Zach suggested taking most of them by car, but Alex was the first to open his mouth to forbid it.

—Don't be crazy, you know you're going to drink —he said, rolling his eyes as he put the wallet in his pocket. He had paid his and Charlie's, he felt he owed him—.

Zach was going to protest, but Alex looked at him with raised eyebrows and a finger raised, as if he was warning him, and the taller man decided to shut his mouth, holding back his laughter. He was right after all.

—Well, I'm not going to drink anything, so I can take some of you, like... me and four of you —Estela proposed, so the rest of them started thinking about it—.

—There are seven of us —Annie pointed out, counting down her friends—We would still need one more option for two of us.

—I'm probably leaving early, guys. I have to get up early because of the trip —Charlie said, looking at his boyfriend for a moment—.

—It's true... you told me before dinner —Alex replied, apparently sad to remember that detail— But that's even worse, one of us would be left behind, alone. I could just go home with you, if you want.

—Don't even think about it! Enjoy the time with your friends, really. That's the main reason you are staying here, it would be unfair to make you leave sooner because of that —his partner complained—.

—I think we could just walk back, right? We live nearby, plus we already did that last night —Zach told, shrugging. It had been good and the truth was the idea of doing it again even sounded good—.

—Wasn't it such a big walk, Dempsey? —Alex snapped, looking at the tallest of the group with a funny smile and that sarcastic tone in his voice, the one that Zach secretly adored—.

—You can tell the evening breeze was good for me, Standall —he insisted, winking at him in a funny way—.

Then, another roll of Alex's eyes followed by a silly smile on his lips made Zach feel something strange in his belly. Nerves? It was impossible, probably some of all that shit he had eaten had made him feel bad or something.

—Well, so.. is it decided already?—Tyler asked, putting an arm around Estela's shoulders, a little impatient to go to Luke's house—.

Everyone looked at Alex, expectant of his answer, silently, as if it were a life-or-death decision.

—Well, too much group pressure, okay —the brunette resigned, raising his hands slightly, as if he was giving up—.

—Perfect! Let's go —Zach walked over to where Charlie and Alex stood still, standing in the middle of the two young men and putting his arms around the shoulders of his two friends, making them both start walking towards their cars—.

Zach left his car right there with the intention of going to pick it the next morning and got into Charlie's car, sitting in one of the back seats.

—Hey… you didn't advise me, so I didn't come with you to pick the car up this morning, this time I will for sure —Alex asked curiously, looking at him by the rearview mirror—.

—I had a lot of free time and it was early, so I didn't want to wake you up —replied the dark-haired one, meeting his gaze with the other's through the mirror—.

—I'm going to miss you guys —Charlie said, starting the car in the direction of the athlete's house, slightly puffing out his cheeks—.

Zach laughed and Alex stretched out as long as the belt allowed him to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. Zach looked away at the road... The interesting thing about the road.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀'𝑪𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀'𝑪𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆

Luke's house was full of people when the gang arrived. There were plenty of tables set up throughout the room where they could find any kind of drinks and snacks, the TV was on and being used by a couple of Liberty students that the young people recognized simply from seeing them in the hallways between classes, and they seemed to be having a good time with karaoke. The first thing Zach did as soon as they were next to one of those tables was to take the vodka bottles out of the bag and put them on it. He grabbed two plastic cups from a bunch of them and filled nearly half of them with that clear liquid. Alex passed him the lemon soda to finish filling them.

—Don't forget about the soda, I know you —he warned, patting him on the shoulder—.

—I love how you care about me, Alex —Zach replied, raising his voice slightly so he could be heard over the music. Luckily, it wasn't as high as it was in the disco the night before—.

He passed one of those two glasses to his best friend, and once all his friends were served — Estela and Charlie just took a glass of coke because they had to drive later— they walked into a room where everyone was dancing or chatting. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
They spent most of the time talking, some leaning against the sofa and others against the wall. Some of them walked away to talk to the some of their now ex-schoolmates who were arriving to the party, such as Jessica when she found out Diego had changed his mind and came over. Others, such as Alex, Clay, Tyler, and Charlie, were just on the couch chatting while some of them, including the young man from the Standall’s, ate one of the cookies that the youngest of them had brought and then drank the third glass of vodka of the night thanks to the bottles that Dempsey had brought. In the other hand, Zach had disappeared. Well, actually he had found a dark-eyed brunette girl, who seemed to be his style, according to Clay. A while later, Alex no longer knew where almost all of his friends were and, since Charlie had gone to the bathroom, the boy was scrolling on instagram, looking at everything and nothing at once.

—I'm going to go now, honey —Charlie told Alex as soon as he returned from the bathroom, with a sad face, making his boyfriend look up from his cell phone to see him—. I've seen Zach out there and I think he's pretty drunk ... Take care of him, because Clay seems to be quite entertaining with a girl as well... I think she's the same one he met at your graduation, Heidy, was it?

—Oh ... yes, her name is Heidy. Has he ever talked about her? —Alex got up from the sofa, standing right in front of his boyfriend. He swallowed, quite nervous, he never knew how to react to a farewell and it was the first time he had to do something like that as someone's partner—. I'm going to miss you, you know that, right? —He asked, getting close enough to the taller one so he could take him by the hands—.

—I know... you haven't changed your mind, have you? Because you can still do —the other boy asked in a whisper, as if he already knew the answer. Actually, he did—.

—Charlie ... You know why I stay. And you know we'll see each other soon, it's just...

—Two months. It is a long time. We'll only have two weeks later before saying goodbye again —Charlie cut him off, not taking his eyes off from Alex, who was trying to avoid him. If there was one thing Alex couldn’t bear, it was pressure, and all his friends were aware of that, obviously Charlie among them. He separated his hands from his boyfriend's, shifting his body weight from one leg to the other, visibly nervous—.  
—I'll be back in town every Friday, Charlie. Seriously, you know I'm not going to change my mind, you've already tried several times and... I just don't want to. Not this year, probably next, okay? —Alex rejected the offer again, not daring to look his boyfriend back—.

—Or we can go somewhere in the winter, you and me, alone —Charlie said, bringing one of his hands to Alex's chin to make him raise his head gently, forcing him to look into his eyes—.

—We'll see, okay? —Alex approached her boyfriend's face and gave him a soft, short kiss on the lips, then separated a couple of steps from him—.

Charlie felt something was wrong, that maybe he had probably screwed up on him. He took a deep breath and released it slowly in a sigh.

—I’m really sorry, Lex. I love you, okay? See you soon —he said goodbye, approaching the boy to kiss him on the cheek and then start walking towards the entrance—.

—I love you too, Charlie —the brown-haired boy replied, turning to see his boyfriend disappear outside the door of Luke's house—.

He felt fucking bad about what had just happened, but since the San Francisco topic had come up Alex had felt pressured to accept the trip. Charlie, almost every day for two weeks, had been bringing it up. If they did not see each other, he did it by WhatsApp, and that was kinda easier to carry, but in person Alex found it more difficult to reject the offer. Occasionally, he had found himself in the need to accept once for all, simply in order not to feel like a bad boyfriend, but he managed to stay firm on his decision as he really felt that it was the best thing for him that summer. Who knows? Maybe during winter he would say yes, and they could go somewhere even if it was only for a weekend together, but not now.

Not now with so many things in his mind that he was trying to clarify once for all.  
Perhaps it would have been better to go with Charlie if what he wanted was to forget about that topic for good, but he felt that to clarify himself he didn’t need to leave but to stay close and get used to the idea of how things actually were.  
Without realizing about it, he had been staring at the floor for longer than he thought, and when he looked up, he found Zach on the other side of the room, making up with a girl. Of course, how not, brunette, but the color of her eyes was a little difficult to know since her eyes were closed and they were kinda busy.  
Well, maybe it wouldn't be that difficult for Alex to clarify his ideas if he kept watching scenes like that. Or that was what he thought until he saw a boy who, apparently, seemed to be quite strong from what his arms and the size of his back showed, approaching with a unfriendly face to Zach from behind. That stranger grabbed and shoved Zach by the shoulder, whom had to forcefully separate his lips from the other girl's. His best friend had no time to react, since as he turned to see who was the one ruining that moment, he received a strong punch in the face. Alex opened his mouth wide and, without thinking twice, ran to help Zach.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖

Alex pushed that boy off his friend while Zach seemed to still don’t understand what the hell was happening. He wasn't going to let him get hit again.

—Are you asking a punch too, asshole? Are you coming to protect this piece of shit? —He asked, his facial expression showing that it wasn't going to end up there, that he was seriously angry—.

—What the hell is going on? —The brown-haired man shouted, looking at the one in front of him with a frown—.

—This guy you're defending is kissing my girlfriend —he explained, trying to jump on Zach again, but Alex intercepted him, receiving a push that left him on the ground—.

Zach's vision was blurred. At first he hadn't understood what was going on, but it didn't take long for him to realize that Alex was on the ground and he ran to help him, not even noticing that his nose was bleeding slightly. He tried to lift him up, but was kicked as soon as he leaned on the ground. Alex, seeing how Zach received that hit, got up quickly and hit the cheek of the one who had hit his best friend with his clenched fist, making his nose also started bleeding.

Zach took advantage of that to get up and help Alex, grabbing the body of who seemed to be older than them, kneeing him in the stomach.

The fight got worse from there. Other friends of that red-haired boy arrived and both Zach and Alex received a few hits. Luckily, other friends of Zach (among whom were Luke himself) and the girl with whom that guy had been kissing, managed to separate them. The young woman left with who was apparently called Demian, and Alex and Zach ended up going out to Luke’s garden and sat on a bench, with a bottle of alcohol and a cotton bag. The shorter one had put a piece on his friend's nose and on his own, and now he was cleaning his eyebrow because in one of his falls the boy had opened it a little or, at least, he was bleeding.

—Damn it... why did you get in? —The dark-haired one asked, glancing at Alex as he continued to entertain himself by cleaning the scratches on his face—.

—Are you really asking why? I saw you there, having such a good time... and I was bored, so I said, why not? —He replied sarcastically—.

—Hey, I didn't know she had a boyfriend, if I had known I wouldn't have done anything —Zach defended himself, closing his eyes tight and making a face of pain at the sensation of alcohol around his nose—.

—Are you sure? Did you even asked before kissing her?

—Is that something you ask before deciding to kiss someone? —The boy opened one of his eyes, seeking for the opposite gaze—.

—I don't know, I've never hooked up with anyone at a party —he replied, avoiding Zach’s eye contact—.

—Right... —Zach dropped his head back a little, resting it against the back of the bench—What about Charlie? I haven't seen him all night—he changed the subject—.

—He's gone already. He didn't find you and... well, he actually did, but didn't want to bother you.

Alex's voice sounded a bit annoyed, and the brunette sensed that it would be because after all, his friend had also received a couple of hits. He sighed deeply as Alex finished cleaning his wounds.

—Seriously, Alex... if you see that I screw something up like that, don't try to help me around, okay? —Zach's voice now seemed muffled. His eyes were no longer looking for the blues ones, he simply looked at the night sky that was above their heads—.

—I'll do whatever I want, Zach —The brown-haired kid put what was left of cotton Luke had given him in the bag and made a move to get up from the bench, but when he wanted to, he felt a hand grabbing his right arm—.

—I don't want anything to happen to you, Alex. I know I get into a lot of troubles and... I don't want to drag you with me.

His voice sounded really sincere, so Alex looked at him for a couple of seconds and then resigned himself from getting up. He simply stayed silent, staring straight ahead, setting his eyes on one of the trees that decorated the entrance to Luke's parents' property.

—Do you know what the problem is, Dempsey? You don't tell me anything anymore. You said it was what we should do, that we had to tell each other everything important, and it is you who is trying to avoid it. You're keeping everything to yourself, and I'm really tired of it. I don't want to see how you decide to destroy yourself.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒙𝒚𝒈𝒆𝒏  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑺𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒈 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒆  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆

Zach lowered his head, knowing what was coming. It was probably the best thing that could happen to him right now, Alex staying away from him was what the taller boy needed. He deserved to be happy, he deserved good friends, someone who was there for him and who he did not have to protect at every party he got into trouble -which was, lately, too common in him-. That blue-eyed boy deserved Charlie, that was the reason why, and despite himself, he had already tried to push him away once. Still, he was going to give himself the privilege of, just on this occasion, admitting to himself that it hurt more to see how Alex tried to get away from him than to be the one who tried to throw him out of his life; because that made it more real. Damn, of course he wasn't good for him, two of the times they decided to hang out, Alex almost died in front of his eyes.

He almost drowned because Zach couldn't think of a better idea than to take him by boat to the center of the lake and start acting like on it.

And even worse…

He almost died the night he decided it was a good idea to try to "take away his fear" by taking him for a walk on the edge of the roof of a building. That was the best idea of the year, for sure.

And what had Alex decided to do after that? Kiss him, show him his feelings and Zach, proving how idiot we could actually be, rejected him like an asshole.

Because he deserved the affection Charlie did know how to give him, unlike him. He wasn't going to let Alex stay by his side when Zach wasn't even able to admit the feelings he was already fucking sure he had towards that boy. Because yes, that was it, and maybe it was time that even if he didn't have the strong to say it out loud, he admitted it in the midst of all that chaos of thoughts that he had been enduring for half a year. He was almost certain that fear would never let him translate all those feelings into words. Something told him that if he was able to, there would be no going back, and he was too cowardly to take a stand.

Even less now that Alex was already happy with Charlie, right? He knew that was what he wanted and needed, but it made him feel like his heart was breaking.

He stood there, silent for a minute or two that seemed eternal, thinking that perhaps this was the moment when he had to leave, until he managed to overcome that cowardice and get up without looking behind for even a second.

But the broken voice of the boy he knew he was in love with made him stop when he had not yet taken more than three steps.

—Do you know what else? I am the one who decides who or what few things I let myself be dragged by. And you have always been one of those exceptions. What the fuck, how many times have I dragged you? You know that I would follow you to hell itself, because you have shown that you would also do it for me. You've saved me more times than you know, and if I'm alive it's basically because of you.

Zach turned back, this time finding the courage to look for that blue color that he had seen so many times in his dreams and that he had tried so hard to forget and get out of his head. Luckily, since Alex was looking at him, he was able to find it. The shorter one got up, taking a couple of steps until he was as close to the opposite body as he wanted.  
His eyes glittered in the moonlight, meeting the dark, opaque ones of the brunet. Zach didn’t separate, did not take a single step backward, he needed that young man by his side, he needed to be saved from all those thoughts that seemed to no longer even disappear with alcohol or marijuana.

—Let me be the one who help you this time, okay?—The boy asked, grabbing his hands the same way he'd done with Charlie a couple of hours earlier—.

Zach simply nodded, letting a couple of tears roll down his cheeks. Alex, on his side, put his arms around the body of that boy who, despite being much taller and stronger than he was, seemed for the first time weaker.

Maybe staying that summer in town was going to be helpful for Alex, but not clearing all those doubts the way he thought.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE GUYS, if you want 13rw to have a spin-off, check out this web site and learn what you can do to help us getting it. You can always start tweeting using the #13rwspinoff hashtag on twitter, instagram, facebook or whatever social media you use daily.
> 
> All the information here https://13rwzalexspinoff.carrd.co/  
> https://help.netflix.com/es-es/titlerequest ask Netflix for the spin off here.
> 
> BTW, thank you so much for every single comment and kudo, you are making me feel so grateful and ready to keep writing.


	3. Friends*

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟯: 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀*

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙨  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙, '𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
Zach didn't smoke, but he did have other bad habits, especially lately; he'd made it pretty clear in the past few months. But there was one of them who was the worst of all... Alex. The time he spent with him was stress reliever, it made him forget all those demon voices for a while... and then, just like a hangover, they all came back at once as soon as the shortest left. At least that night was not going to be like this.  
He was walking on the sidewalk with his sight still slowed, a result of the alcohol he still had in his blood. He ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, before looking to the boy who was also walking beside him.

Alex, on the other hand, could still feel the effects of the marijuana cookies he had eaten, yes, those that Charlie had made during the afternoon. He checked his cellphone out, scrolling through his songs on spotify, looking for one to put at that moment. His gaze fell on Majical Cloudz's “Downtown” for a couple of seconds. That song would always remind him of Zach, it would remind him of the night his best friend taught him some dance steps to spring dance. Alex was not at all uncomfortable with silence, in fact, he enjoyed it; and when he was with Zach he seemed to like it a lot more. They could be quiet for hours, lying on their bed all afternoon playing a video game or just listening to music while reading a book. Perhaps he was the only one with whom he could feel free and comfortable in silence, simply being himself, rolling his eyes every time Zach laughed out loud while reading something funny in one of his comics and then showing it to Alex. Best of all, the shortest didn't always understand what exactly was funny, but he ended up laughing too despite trying to hold it back, because that laugh was so fucking contagious.  
He shook his head realizing that he might have stayed too long with his finger still on the name of that song and continued to scroll. Somehow it made him feel bad listening to it, to the brunette it seemed somehow wrong to do it, to think of Zach the same way he had started feeling that night... or maybe it had started even before, but that didn't matter now. After a quick movement with the index finger on the mobile phone screen, he ended up clicking on the first song he saw; Soldier by Fleurie. Then, he put the device in his pants pocket and looked up, looking for his friend. He found Zach looking directly at him.

—Everything all right?

Shit, he hoped Zach hadn't seen him looking stupid at the mobile screen when he saw the title of that song. After all, it was the one they had put that night in his room and… he didn't want Zach to think things that were not true. Because it didn't really mean anything, did it?  
—Yeah, it's just that... I was thinking about what song to choose and I couldn't find the right one—he replied quickly, trying to get rid of the situation—.

His friend nodded, walking with his hands inside his jacket pockets.

—What about you? Does it still hurt? —the chestnut asked. None of the wounds on Zach's face looked bad, although he had been concerned about those on his chest. After all, he would swear that his best friend had received more than one hit on his stomach—.

—Yeah, but they are just minor injuries. Nothing to worry about.

—No... I mean your chest. I know that asshole hit you in the stomach.

—Oh, don't worry, really. I'm fine, but I can show you later if you want —He raised and lowered his eyebrows several times, as flirting with him. Typical in Zach after all—.

Alex rolled his eyes, rolling them blank for a second before searching his eyes again for Dempsey's

—At least I am clear you sense of humor hasn't been taken away from you, not even by blows, Zach. I'm glad —he drew a small smile on his lips—.

They spent the rest of the way talking. Everything and nothing at the same time. Zach told him how obsessed he was to The Walking Dead, and although Alex had never watched that show, he was completely attentive to everything that the boy told him. Afterwards, the shorter one told him about the songs he had learned to play on the guitar during the last two weeks due to all the free time he had had. Both boys had greatly missed being able to talk about everything insignificant in their lives between them.

When they realized, they were already across the street from Zach's house.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮'𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
The boy shrugged, looking at that house he hardly was able to call home. Any place at that time was preferable for him than going through the door of that house. He looked at his friend, who had his eyes on him.  
Alex wanted to ask him if something had happened, he wanted to remind him again of the promise they had made about telling each other everything important, but he was never, in his life, going to pressure Zach to do something he didn't want to. He knew that when he was ready or at least when he himself had a good opportunity to make him comfortable, the topic would come up. He just stared at him, waiting for the boy to choose what to do.

—Can I ... can I stay at your house tonight? —The voice of the tallest came out trembling, and before that Alex was not going to hesitate for a second—.

—Of course you can —he nodded. Not even a hint of doubt in his answer—. Come on, let's go. It won't be long before we get there.

He didn't even ask if he had anything to pick up at his house. In any other situation, Zach would have gone into it and grabbed at least his cell phone charger and pajamas, but he could feel that his friend was more than uncomfortable. And actually he was, just with the thought of inserting the keys into the lock on the front door he could feel a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't a good idea at all to go in when the boy wasn't able to take three steps without wobble still. Alex simply continued walking towards his own home, checking the state of the boy who was now walking beside him again out of the corner of his eye. He was obviously not feeling right, but he would wait for Zach to tell him what was happening, that was their friendship and that was the way it worked perfectly... at least almost all the time. The shorter restarted the conversation they stopped when they were stood still in front of the Dempsey house and kept it on until they finally reached the Standalls'.  
Alex took the keys out of his pocket and, perhaps still with some difficulty, ended up putting it in the lock and then opened the front door. He put one of his index fingers to his lips, searching for Zach's gaze, to warn him they should go in silence, although that only made them both laugh… at least they put a hand on their mouths. They went up the stairs to the first floor and walked to the rooms.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
—This time we don't have the guest room available. My mother has decided that it was a good time to remodel it and has given the bed as a present for some friends she has in order to buy another bed base and a new mattress to have a bigger one. You're going to have to sleep with me, so you better let me sleep —he whispered, at the expression of uncertainty that had been drawn on Dempsey's face as he opened the door to his own room—.

—In the same bed? After the first date? and... let you sleep? It doesn't sound like a good plan, Lex. We could make this night more entertaining —he joked, raising and lowering his eyebrows repeatedly—.

Alex rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at him with an amused smile.

—Do you really think I'm going to kiss you again, Dempsey? Because you will not have that luck. You've lost your chance. Even with that Dempsey magic of yours you wouldn't make it.

Zach could tell by Alex's tone his friend was joking, but for the brunette it had been like a stab in the back. Or ... well, on his chest because his friend was looking directly at him, actually. Anyway, he knew it was a cruel reality that even despite trying to hide with jokes, he could not overcome. It didn't seem like he was going to make it anytime soon.

—I mean... playing video games, for example. Or just talking, everything but sleep. Come on, Lex, it's too early even for you.

Both boys had already approached the bed, leaving the jackets on the coat rack that was behind the door to the entrance to Alex's room and now the youngest was sitting on the front edge of the bed, looking directly at the boy who was standing in front of him.

—Even for me? What are you implying? It seems like you don't know that I always stay up late watching Netflix during summer. It isn't the same as during the school year, when I usually am exhausted. We can talk if you want, I think that if we play something we will wake up my parents, by now they must be back from work. Shall we go to bed?

Dempsey agreed with a nod, sighing. The shorter of the two stood up and began undressing. It wasn't even the first time that he had done it in front of the oldest, but since that kiss - or perhaps since that incident at the swimming pool's lockers- the situation between the two of them had changed a lot. He didn't want to see Zach, so he just turned around, turning his back on the brunette and changing his clothes. He had his pajamas on the bed, so it was not a difficult task to get changed without turning around. On the other hand, Zach glanced at the posters Alex had taped to the wall, trying to think of anything but the fact that his best friend was changing clothes in front of him; if Alex turned for a moment to see his face and if it wasn't so dark in there -only the moonlight through the windows lit up the interior of the room- he might have noticed the blush that had appeared on the athlete's cheeks. Since he had no pajamas and obviously any clothes that his friend wanted to lend him would be too small, he simply stayed in his underpants and got as fast as he could into the other's bed. Alex, once he finished changing, did the same.  
They were both silent, on their backs and lying on the bed, a few minutes later the brunette decided to be the first to speak. 

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙

—I haven't almost talked to my mum since… mid-december —he said, without even thinking about it. Alcohol made things easier, even if he felt much clearer after that walk down the street— Just when Justin went to rehab.

Alex listened paying all his attention. He nodded, turning it to the left, enough to see his friend, putting an arm under his head to settle on the bed.

—We had a strong argument because… —the brunette's now crystalline eyes pointed at the ceiling, not daring to look at his best friend— she wanted me to start again, in a different place. She wanted me to go to the furthest possible college and forget everything that had happened here. I didn't want to —He sought strength enough to turn his head slightly and glance at the figure of that brown boy lying next to him. Their bodies were really close, not close enough to touch, but practically. He could see his eyes thanks to the moonlight, that blue ocean that had given him so much peace until now, just what he needed at that moment—. And I don't want to think for a moment about having to go far as Clay will do, as Ani will do, or even as Tony has already done. I don't want to lose you guys... I don't want to lose... you.

Alex's lips parted, more because of surprise than from wanting to say something, because no words came to his mind. Zach, noticing the silence between the two, realized that perhaps it had been too... honest? Damn, his boyfriend had just left a few hours ago and he seemed to be flirting with him already. Maybe he was, to be honest.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝?  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙

—I mean… I don't want to lose anyone closer to me, not anymore. Not after what happened to Hannah and with Justin later —The boy raised one of his hands to his eyes, rubbing them a little and taking advantage of the "I'm so tired" excuse in order not to keep looking at his best friend longer than necessary-.

He didn't know what else to say, he felt that somehow all he did was screwing it over and over again. To make things worse, hadn't he said something like that before loosing Justin too? History repeated itself over and over and it seemed to have no end. Alex was going to leave and, even if the boy wasn't going really far, he wasn't going to be able to see him every day, he was not going to be able to apologize if he screwed up the day before and he could not find excuses to go and pick him up from home or take him back from school whenever he wanted to. Alex'd just come to Evergreen on Friday nights to see Charlie and then... then...

—You're never going to lose me, Zach —The young man turned, lying now completely on his side of the bed. His left arm this time placed under the pillow, the right one got out of the bed, rested on his own body despite the fact that part of him wanted to hug his friend. So close and yet so far-. For your disgrace, I will have to come down every Friday and sleep at home the whole weekend. I'll have to watch all those boring games you are going to coach if I want to enjoy a walk, a dinner or a party later—he joked, finally daring to reach out and grab that hand that still covered those dark eyes Alex knew so well. Basically he had always taken every opportunity he had to see those eyes as close as he could.

After taking Zach's hand away from his eyes, he brought his and his friend's to rest on the brunette's chest, who, when Alex didn't move away from the hold of his hand, turned to his right. Both faces were dangerously close to each other, their hands still softly held, as if they were afraid of tightening their grip and not being able to hold back anymore, resting on the little space that separated their bodies. Zach could feel the boy's breath on his face, and he was sure Alex was in the same situation as him. His heart seemed to be pounding out of his chest and the opposite might have noticed, because Zach was almost sure he could feel his too... Although that had to be his imagination, right? Anyway, he once again hated what -and the way- that boy made him feel, what he had been desperately seeking from girl to girl, all that he had tried to hide, to drown in alcohol and sex but that, somehow, it was totally impossible to make it disappear.  
Because every time, like in that precise moment, he saw that blue ocean eyes so close to him, or the smile that the smile that only Zach managed to get from him; or those parted lips that since that night on the rooftop had not been able to see again as before... those feelings arose again.

The dark-haired guy would swear Alex had gotten a little closer, because now he could feel one of his feet shily caressing one of his and one of his knees was resting against his. The lips of both young men were dangerously close and it seemed like this time it wasn't going to be the shortest one who closed the distance.

Or... neither of them.

Unfortunately, at that very moment, Alex's cell phone began to shake. One, two, three times. The brown-haired man sighed, giving him a wide smile -yes, one of those that, as he had said before, only Zach managed to get drawn on his lips- and turned again to grab the mobile phone that had been placed on the small furniture next to him from the bed where they were lying on.  
Sneaking his head up, Zach could see over his best friend's shoulder how he opened the WhatsApp conversation with Charlie.

"I love you, see you at the end of the summer. Take care, my king ”

A lump was formed in Zach's throat and he turned on himself, now facing the other side of the room, turning his back on Alex, who also did not turn around after, by the sound that the highest could hear, he put the phone back in the same place where he had picked it up before.

Alex had Charlie, and Zach couldn't -and shouldn't- do anything now. He had lost his chance and the blue-eyed guy now seemed to be happy. After all, that's how he wanted him to be. With his eyes still wet and the image of Alex's face close to his, Zach ended up falling asleep. Hopefully he would dream about what would have happened if that message from Charlie hadn't reminded him that Alex was no longer his... or had never been.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮'𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI PEOPLE!  
> Sorry for the delay but I have been working and studying a lot these days, the week has been a little long for me, but ... I'm back!  
> I hope you like it, this chapter has been a little softer (and only five pages of word but the next one is going to be longer because I want a lot of things to happen and I need MANY pages HAHA), but in the next one there will be a good little (maybe not little :D) drama that I'm sure you will love it.
> 
> Oh, I almost forgot.  
> Remember that this Friday we return with # # 13rwspinoff. One of the producers follows the instagram account that we have about the spin off and as you know, Devin has signed the request for it.
> 
> You have all the information here:  
> https://13rwzalexspinoff.carrd.co/  
> THANK YOU!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!!!
> 
> This will be the first fic I write in which I will try to upload chapter per week. I will do everything I can because Zalex deserves much more than they have received.  
> I'm really sorry if my English is not as good as it should, but it's my third language (I'm spanish) and I'm really do everything I can to translate it to you :)  
> Suggestions are welcome, especially songs !!


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